Mandela Park, a densely populated area in the east of Ekurhuleni, currently has limited recycling collection services and infrastructure. This has resulted in widespread illegal dumping and pollution in the area. In celebration of Mandela Day on Friday, 18 July 2025, Polyco, in partnership with the K1 Foundation, launched a new community-driven separation-at-source recycling programme in the Mandela Park section of Katlehong, Gauteng.
Rooted in the spirit of Mandela Day’s ’67 minutes of service’, the event kicked off with a large-scale community clean-up, followed by the official programme launch.
The separation-at-source initiative will educate, empower, and equip 15 local youths who will be trained as environmental champions to promote sustainable waste practices and tackle plastic pollution in their community.
This programme aims to tackle this problem by increasing recycling rates among community members while generating income for unemployed young people – blending environmental action with skills development and job creation.
The 15 environmental champions will work alongside local waste reclaimers to raise awareness about proper waste management and educate households on how to separate dry recyclable waste from other refuse.
Each week, households will receive refuse bags to sort recyclables, which will then be collected, sorted, and recycled by the local buy-back centre, K1 Recycling, under Polyco’s Packa-Ching programme. Packa-Ching provides separation-at-source recycling infrastructure in informal areas and pays community members for the recyclable packaging material they drop off. The programme has had a significant positive impact in under-resourced communities and, to date, has paid over R27 million to participants, with more than 27 million kilograms of plastic waste collected.
Polyco will also provide PPE, refuse bags, educational materials, and logistics to support the programme’s rollout and the Mandela Day event.
‘While we launched this programme on Mandela Day, it will continue beyond our 67-minute event, creating employment opportunities for local youths, an income stream for community members and eradicating plastic waste in Katlehong,’ said Patricia Pillay, CEO of Polyco. ‘Through our partnership with K1 Foundation, we are demonstrating how local collaborations can drive change by creating circular recycling economies in under-resourced communities.’
‘Through this Mandela day event, K1 Foundation will start a partnership with the Mandela section community and help them to become a sustainable community by continually educating and reminding households on becoming responsible consumers and managing their environment,’ added Tshepo Mazibuko, K1 Foundation CEO.
POLYCO
https://www.polyco.co.za
